Sukkur is a city that carries a bundle of myths and mysteries. One can find historical monuments and buildings at every corner of the city.

Since the past few weeks, I was very anxious to write about the mystery surrounding the “Tomb of Seven Sisters”, located in Sukkur close to Rohri. This spot is not too big but the Indus River flowing nearby has added to its beauty and calm. One can see blind dolphins playfully swimming in the Indus; the scenery gets more mesmerizing at the point from where we can look onto the Lansdowne Bridge in the background.

There is no doubt about the fact that this place is a popular point of interest and landmark in Sukkur city. Twice, I have been to this place and have always found tourists and local citizens of the city who are believers of the place come here and make some prayers for their needs.

This place is not a high profile or well decorated building like that of other saints of Sindh. Rather, it’s like a cave like hall, dug out of mound and more importantly, it remains crowded with women all day. Women come here for prayers mainly from Sukkur, Jacobabad and Karachi. They arrive here to seek the blessings of the saintly ‘seven sisters’, in the hope that their problems will be solved. This is Satian Jo Asthaan (the home of seven virgins).

During my research, learnt about several versions of the story of the seven sisters’ death. As one of these versions goes, the sisters resided here in the cave and during their stay didn’t meet with any man except for Raja Dahir, the Hindu ruler at that time (663 AD – 711 AD), who came to know about their beauty and ordered for them to be brought in front of him. When the sisters heard this news they became very scared and started to pray. Suddenly, during their prayer, the earth opened up and they disappeared in it.

Another version says that to save their lives these sisters jumped into the River Indus. Though there is no single version of the story of the sisters’ death, the history of the Tomb is more straightforward. It is known that after the Raja Dahir’s era, the Arab invaders took control of this place under the leadership of Mohammad Bin Qasim and used it for their own purposes.

Renowned writer Sibt-e-Hassan has highlighted some important aspects to the tomb in his book ‘Tehzeeb-e-Irtaka‘. According to the narration in the ‘Chach Nama’ narrates, Bin Qasim was here to control all the wealth and important resources, and during his stay here, he married Raja Dahir’s daughter.

According to Dr. Abida Rehman Khan, a research scholar, in order to save their honour, these seven sisters disappeared in a cave to avoid having to obey the orders of the Hindu ruler.She said that these seven women were probably of Arab origin and Muslims known in their community as “Pak Bibbiyan”, who had taken vows never to show themselves to any man.

“During my visit, I was informed that men are not allowed in the area where the sisters are buried. Only women can visit and pray. None is allowed to take cameras inside as well.

But on requesting some women about their visits inside the cave, I was told that there are no graves or engravings inside. They said the hall has some prayer mats and copies of the Holy Quran.

Regardless of the several versions of the story, the locals agreed that these were pious women who preferred death to disgrace. This is the main reason the news of their sacrifice spread far and wide and in no time the place was turned into a sanctuary for women. On weekends, women in massive numbers come to pray at the site. School picnics are arranged for this spot as well.

As per my telephonic conversation with Liaqat Ali, another historian, ‘every city of Pakistan has its own mysteries and myths.’

In Lahore, there is ‘Bibi Pak Daman’ and in the Walled City, another place called ‘Chehal Bibiyaan’. He was of the view that within Urdu or English history books no concrete evidence is found regarding such mystery tombs. He also mentioned that every individual should read ‘The Golden Bough,’ a book by George James Frazer, in which he clearly highlights the comparative study of mythology and religion.”

Above this case, there are several other graves. On asking area residents and officials, I was informed that these graves are of Mir Abu Al-Qasim (1553-85), the Mughal Governor of Bakkar (the old name of Sukkur) and members of his family. Details of his life and the deaths, in Persian verse, along with Quranic verses, are inscribed on the tombstones.

Nothing can match the spiritual dedication of the women visitors to the abode of the seven virgins, where these visitors spend the entire day praying and pleading for saintly blessing to solve their personal and family problems. Sadly, the site is in a miserable condition, and preservation efforts by the Sindh Government are next to none.

Salman Ali is a social and political activist based in Lahore. He can be reached at salmanali088@gmail.com, and tweets at Salmani_salu